Visa curb on foreign students’ dependants poised to cost UK, as students look elsewhere
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Visa ban on foreign students’ dependants is likely to cost the British economy up to £10 billion yearly, going by findings by QS which conducts World University Rankings and the largest worldwide student survey.
International students contributed £41.9 billion to the United Kingdom economy in the 2021/2022 academic session and it is projected there will be a decline of 200,000 international students in the UK by 2025 if the ban is implemented in January 2024 as planned.
Data from British Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows Nigeria is the third largest source market for international students in the UK, and has the highest number of dependants associated with student visas.
Dependant numbers more than doubled in 2022, with India the second largest source country.
University leaders at the recent higher education festival in London were warned about the potential implications of government revisions to dependant visas on the UK economy
QS Strategy and Analytics Director Matteo Quacquarelli said the UK is currently in a strong position in the increasingly competitive global market for international students, but stakeholders must not ignore the potential impact of visa changes.
QS conducted a proactive pulse poll of 5,000 potential international students in March 2023 to discover how they would react to any proposed changes to the laws governing student visas, such as the option to bring families with them.
One in four overseas students said they would be less inclined to choose the UK, and one in five who were interested in Russell Group universities said they would be discouraged from continuing with their original study plans.
Quacquarelli warned “this is not only impacting the supply to the UK market, but we’ll be passing that out to other destinations.
“Taking the recent HEPI analysis on the contribution of international students. We’ve formulated several different scenarios, with the worst case being [the changes] could cost the UK up to £10 billion.”
__________________________________________________________________
Related articles:
Nigerian students pump nearly £2b into UK economy in one year
Nearly 100,000 Nigerian students enrol in UK unis
Large Nigerian figures partly why UK banned foreign students’ relatives
_________________________________________________________________
London reiterates commitment to international education strategy
London has reiterated its commitment to the international education strategy through the Departments for Business and Trade and Education, maintaining the target of attracting 600,000 international students each year, despite the announcement by the Home Office on banning dependents, per Nairametrics.
QS also offered some other insightful data on the possibility for universities to diversify their student bodies.
It was discovered that rankings of the “top 10” source countries for the UK, US, Australia, and Canada cut across 23 countries including Nigeria.
The UK receives only 26,000 enrolments from its top competitors’ fastest-growing source economies, and over 275,000 students enrolled in the US, Canada, and Australia are from the same markets.
Mexico, Canada, and Brazil are America’s growth facilitator markets; Canada has markets mainly from the Philippines, Mexico, and Iran; and Australia’s are Thailand, Nepal, Colombia, and Brazil.
With the new dependant visa ban, it is unlikely Nigeria will remain a top source destination for the UK.
